On Wednesday, Judge Matsumoto ruled that Shkreli’s post on 4 September – made shortly before Mrs Clinton began a book tour – showed he posed a danger, rejecting arguments his words were protected by US free speech laws.

Shkreli – who has clashed frequently with critics on social media – had argued that the since-deleted post amounted to satire, and had been a reference to DNA sequencing.

“This is a solicitation of assault in exchange for money,” the judge said. “That is not protected by the First Amendment.”

“We believed that the court arrived at the wrong decision. But she’s the judge, and right now we will have to live with this decision.”

Shkreli rocketed to notoriety in 2015 – and earned the nickname “Pharma Bro” – after raising the price of a lifesaving anti-parasite drug called Daraprim by 5,000% upon acquiring rights to the medication.

Overnight, the price of the drug soared from $13.50 to $750 (£570) per dose.